A Joplin police officer killed a 2-year-old- Why did he take the shot?

The most in-depth investigation to date into the Joplin SWAT operation March 26, 2023 that ended with the death of a 2-year-old Kansas girl was published today in a collaborative effort by Kansas City public radio station KCUR and Midwest Newsroom.

The article offers an account of the events leading up to Clesslyn Crawford's death due to an accidental shooting by a Joplin SWAT sniper whose identity is not yet revealed, but who is still on the JPD payroll followed by the suicide of her father, Eli Crawford, 38, who had been holding the child hostage, while shooting at area police officers. Crawford had already killed the girl's mother, Taylor Shutte, 27.

The shooting has already resulted in the city of Joplin paying a $1.4 million settlement to the child's grandparents.

A complete report has been issued by the KBI, leaving out only one thing- the identity of the sniper, an omission addressed in the KCUR report.

Though the sniper's name is not included in the article, reporters were able to glean a considerable amount of information about him from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation report.

But we do know a few things about Sniper 1 gleaned from those KBI documents. He is a white male who is now 32 years old. When he shot Clessie in 2022, he had been an officer for six years, all with the Joplin Police Department. Sniper 1 was on the Joplin SWAT team for five years, and “had served as the sniper team leader for two years,” according to his interview with the KBI.

From other sources we also know that he is still a Joplin police officer making $50,000 a year. He is, however, no longer on the SWAT team.

When asked why Sniper 1 was still in the department despite the tragic mistake, Joplin Police Chief Richard Pearson, who took over as chief in December, provided a statement:

“As this matter is closed, this agency has no further comment other than what has previously been provided by our department. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the family.”

Among the revelations in the article:

-SWAT commander Sgt. Andrew Blair gave a shoot on sight order according to the sniper, saying, "We are not going to give him a chance to leave the trailer."

-The sniper removed the night vision attachment on his scope.

-KBI investigators wrote, “There is no physical evidence that would indicate Eli Crawford was in close proximity to Clesslynn Crawford when she received her fatal wound.”

More details of the night of March 26, 2022, were included in the November 20, 2023 Turner Report, written after the sniper filed a motion asking that his name not be revealed.

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Joplin Police was called in for assistance March 26, 2022 for a standoff at 340 Wyandotte Avenue in Baxter Springs. A female caller told Baxter Springs dispatch she needed helped and when officers arrived, the woman, Taylor Dawn Shutte, 27, was shot to death by Eli Crawford, 37, who then went back into the house with their 2-year-old daughter, Clesslyn Crawford (pictured).

Crawford began shooting at officers from the Baxter Springs Police Department and the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, who called in additional assistance from the Kansas Highway Patrol, Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Joplin Police Department SWAT including John Doe.

According to a report issued in September by the Cherokee County District Attorney's office and including the conclusions of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Eli Crawford fired more than 90 rounds from the trailer window.

Crawford offered a deal to negotiators, according to the report.

"Send my sister and get my baby and everything is fine. Other than that, I have hand grenades and fully automatic weapons that I am getting ready to use. Do you hear me? If you don't do this, then you are going to have a bunch of dead people on your hands."

Negotiations continued for the next 20 minutes interspersed with shots from the trailer. At that point, John Doe took the fatal shot, which he described in the report.

I was presented with his upper torso and his arm. And I could tell it was that, because I could see the triangle of light between his left — his torso and his arm. I aimed at the left side of the frame of the window without hitting the framed — without hitting the frame, and I aimed up to where I thought it would be about his pectoral region and I fired a round.

"I reloaded. Just seconds later, there was a muffled shot. It didn't sound like a normal gunshot I had been hearing. The other two snipers on the west side, watching the front door, came over the radio and said they heard a muffled, a muffled, or a round fired from inside."

The muffled shot, the report says, was Crawford killing himself after John Doe's bullet killed his daughter.

Following the investigation, Cherokee County District Attorney's office determined no charges would be filed against John Doe and that he was justified in using deadly force against Eli Crawford, the person he thought he was shooting.

John Doe was also cleared in the Joplin Police Department internal investigation.

John Doe's petition says that he has been the target of an anonymous Facebook group Blue Wall of Silence, which has offered a cash reward "for the name of the Joplin, Missouri officer who fired the lethal bullet into the skull of a little toddler in pink pajamas last march in Kansas," and which has posted other messages the petition describes as "disturbing."

The release of Doe's name could cause harm to the officer and his family, the petition said.

Here, the evidence cited above shows that the release of Officer Doe’s name “is reasonably likely to pose a clear and present danger to the safety of” him and perhaps his family. As such, there the Court is likely to determine that Officer Doe’s name “shall be closed and shall be redacted from any record” disclosed by the City pursuant to the Dagley and KCUR requests, as well as any similar future requests.
A restraining order and permanent injunction would do no damage to KCUR or Dagley, the petition says and releasing the rest of the information to KCUR would take care of the public's right to know.

The public interest is not compelling. To the extent KCUR is advancing the public’s interest, it will immediately receive all information related to the March 26, 2022, incident except for Petitioner’s name. Thus, KCUR, and ultimately the public, will know all there is to know about the incident except for Petitioner’s name while this matter is being fully decided on the merits.